Ball throwing implements have been known in the art for some time, and are shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 1,168,808 to Von Hoffmann; U.S. Pat. No. 3,897,068 to Staples; and in French patent No. 665,117 to Coutant. While such implements each have their own particular advantages, they all present disadvantages in retaining the ball on the ball shaft while swinging the flexible shaft along an arc until the ball slides off and do not allow uniformity in release time of the ball or other object. Furthermore, they are of complicated structure. U.S. Pat. No. 4,364,371 by the present applicant shows an improved hand held ball throwing implement including a resilient release element and means for adjustment of the force required to throw the ball from the shaft. Depending upon the type of game that is played using the implement and the skill of the user, there has been a need for a ball retainer of the implement to be even more simplified in structure, including less parts than prior art implements, and which would at the same time provide for uniformity of ball release time.